New Year's Honours: Andy Macfarlane "just one cog" in deer industry success

Andy Macfarlane spent a lot of his life improving relationships and understanding around deer farming. Supplied.

Ashburton man Andy Macfarlane was “a bit staggered” when he found out he’d received a New Years Honour.

“It was the last thing I was expecting.”

Macfarlane was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2026 Honours for his service to the Deer Industry.

He and his wife Tricia have been a part of the industry for over 40 years.

“We started investing in deer when we were newly married, in the early 80’s, at a low level.”

He spent several decades as a farm consultant, establishing Macfarlane Rural Business in 1997, before being asked to chair the Deer Industry New Zealand board in 2010.

He joined DINZ during a “period of decline,” according to the Honours summary, and was the driving force behind a government partnership which changed that trajectory.

“It was already set up with an extremely good structure,” Macfarlane said; “All it needed, when I came on board, was an integration strategy that revolved around the people.”

The $14 million dollar, seven-year ‘Passion2Profit’ programme helps farmers of a region come together and identify opportunities for new agricultural projects.

“In about 2018, our oldest son Thomas had become a very passionate deer farmer,” Macfarlane said; “It runs in the family now.”

Macfarlane also spent a decade as a Lincoln University Councillor, was a past President of the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management, and has chaired the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures Fund Plantain Project since 2021.

He has also been a long-term director for ANZCO Foods, Fonterra, Ngāi Tahu Farming and AgResearch.

Macfarlane said deer farming, whether for meat or velvet, has always had a place in New Zealand’s agricultural landscape.

“Deer farming is, ultimately, the most profitable form of land use on certain classes of country.

“Farmers do what’s profitable, and deer are also a very complimentary class of livestockto sheep and beef.

He said the industry’s success was not his alone to claim.

“I’m just one cog in a wheel of talent,” he said, “but I’m happy to see the industry recognised.”